Di Renjie of Dali Temple and Li Qiao of Yushitai stood up to defend Fang Xianzhong, but this time one supported the queen and the other supported the majesty. In this way, it was obvious that Li Hong wanted to demote Fang Xianzhong because of his crime. It’s a lot more difficult.
Fang Xianzhong was also stunned. He didn't expect that he could survive from a desperate situation. In the court, facing His Highness the Crown Prince, who had never been defeated in the court, he could very well escape. He suddenly felt in his heart. Surprised and surprised, he looked at Li Zhi and Wu Mei with bright eyes. He admitted his mistake with sincerity and fear: "Your Majesty and the Queen, please give me a chance. This time, I was deceived by Pei Yan and threatened me with my daughter. I am ... I was afraid that the reputation of the royal family would be ruined because of Pei Yan's threats, so I had no choice but to bribe him. I also ask your majesty and the queen to express Jianchen's loyalty."
"Get up, merits and demerits are equal. From now on, as the minister of the Ministry of Industry, you must know how to behave yourself. As the quasi-father-in-law of King Pei, you should set an example, win face for the royal family, and be loyal to the court and the Tang Dynasty." Li Zhi waved his hand lazily, signaling Fang Xianzhong to stand up.
With these words, the matter of Fang Xianzhong was obviously written off. Li Yiyan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, took a step forward and was about to speak, but was stopped by Li Hong, who patted him on the shoulder and signaled that he did not need to remonstrate with His Majesty. .
The couple's mouthpieces, Dali Temple and Yushitai, both agreed and personally exonerated them. Their own punishment department was half a square shorter than theirs, so it was obviously impossible to convict Fang Xianzhong.
Li Yiyan was stunned for a moment, and when he saw Li Hong waving his hands, he retreated to the courtiers again and listened silently to what happened next in the court.
"This account has been recorded for you. If you dare to do it again in the future! Pei Yan is your Fang Xianzhong..." Li Hong looked at Fang Xianzhong who was shocked and happy, and warned him halfway before being interrupted by his father Long. .
"There is nothing wrong with Shangguan Yi taking up the post of Zhongshu Ling, but I think this matter still needs to be considered. So, in view of the heavy government affairs before Yuan Day, and I can't live without Zhongshu Ling to assist me, I will let Shangguan Yi first Let me act as an agent for a few days. We can discuss this matter later." Although Li Zhi specifically answered Li Hong's question, his eyes were indeed wandering around the other courtiers in the court, and he did not even look at Li Hong.
When Li Hong heard what Father Long said, he raised his head and looked at his mother! what happened? Isn't it a deal between us? Why did you drag your father into this
Li Zhi saw Li Hong suddenly looking at Wu Mei with a shocked look on his face. Perhaps he felt sorry in his heart, so he gave the green light to Ouyang Tong as the Minister of Household Affairs. He didn't even bother to ask, leaving all the power to Li Hong came to deal with it.
What's more, today Ouyang Tong looked at Pei Yan with angry eyes, calmly and calmly argued with him, and even completely dominated the situation. Li Zhi had no way to refuse Li Hong's proposal.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Revenue has been under the control of Li Hong for more than ten years and is about to become an organization of the East Palace. It is obviously very difficult to arrange the candidates for the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue who are not in accordance with Li Hong's wishes. Well, I'm afraid the little brat just dared to overturn the court.
But this move caused Wu Mei to roll her eyes and feel pain in her body. This was a lot of money. How could this opportunity to cheat Li Hong be wasted like this!
Although the position of Zhongshu Ling is not certain, no matter what, whether it is because His Majesty is looking after Prince Li Hong's face or because Shangguan Yi is indeed the best candidate, Li Zhi did not seal the door and still left Li Hong. Given the opportunity, only Shangguan Yi proposed by him had the greatest chance.
For other courtiers who are interested in coveting the position of Zhongshu Ling, although the remaining opportunities to compete seem to be still there, they are actually extremely slim.
In the court today, it seems that only Pei Yan, the Secretary-General, fell. But in the future, many officials in the court will be implicated. It is also possible that the courtiers who stood side by side with him today will enter Dali tomorrow. I can't get out of the temple.
Ma Zai was forced into the Ministry of Industry by Li Hong. He had the same rank as when he was in Anxi. He was not promoted but moved. He was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Anyone with a discerning eye can also see that the next Minister of the Ministry of Industry must be Ma Zai! It’s just a matter of time.
In this way, both Shangshu Province and Zhongshu Province were firmly controlled by Li Hong. As for Menxia Province, he could not touch it at will now. After all, Menxia Province was equivalent to His Majesty's mind. , no matter which national policy is formulated by the Zhongshu Province, it must be approved by the Menxia Province, and then approved by the emperor before it is handed over to the Shangshu Province for implementation.
Therefore, the Menxia Province originally seemed to be an unimportant position. After Li Hong took charge of the Zhongshu Province and the Shangshu Province, the Menxia Province became a bridge between his two powers. It also played a supervisory role, making him unable to Completely follow your own wishes and have supreme rights like an emperor.
But the current power is already the most powerful among the princes since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. Even if the late emperor Li Shimin was still alive and before he inherited the throne, his rights were limited to Shangshu Province.
Now, Prince Li Hong has begun to take charge of national policies and implement them. There's just one thing missing, and that's the decision-making of national policies!
The courtiers in the next court were thinking about their own concerns, worried, happy, clapping their hands, frowning and thinking, all kinds of expressions could be found on the faces of the courtiers.
The fact that Pei Yan was solved in the court was not a frightening thing. What made them feel entangled and worried was that during the subsequent interrogation by the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Yushitai Hall, Pei Yan vomited in his mouth. The names of the people who came out, maybe after Yuanri, there will be many new faces in the court.
Someone looked at Father Long and Mother Long leaving behind the Xuanzheng Hall after going down to court, and greeted him twice hurriedly, but the two people didn't seem to hear them, and ignored him. Accompanied by the guard of honor, , slowly disappeared behind the huge screen of Xuanzheng Hall.
Lian Tie and Wang Lou smiled bitterly and stopped Li Hong: "Your Highness, please let me go. I dare not let you go. The queen has a life. If you go, my head will have to be moved."
"I can't get through, but you still have to move your heads." Li Hong was unarmed, so he couldn't beat them at all. If he had a knife or something, it would be okay to hit them.
But with bare hands, these things are like practicing iron shirts and golden bells. You can stand there and let yourself use force at will, even if you kick the crotch, you will not feel any pain or pain.
"Your Highness, I'm really begging you. In fact, you don't have to go through here... Look at the front door of Xuanzheng Hall, it's not very far from the harem, isn't it?" Lian Tieying received a punch from Li Hong, and His Highness became stronger and stronger. He was coming harder and harder, and if he hadn't already braced himself, he would have knocked him to the ground with one punch.
"Fuck! That's right, I'm such a pig." Li Hong turned around and ran away, ignoring the sideways glances of other eunuchs and maids in the palace, and ran out as if his butt was on fire.
After chasing like a gust of wind, I saw the honor guard of Dragon Father and Dragon Mother slowly moving forward from a distance, so someone hurriedly shouted: "My son, Li Hong, has met his father and the emperor and his mother."
Hearing the greeting from someone behind him, Li Zhi stopped slightly. Just as he was about to turn his head to look, he heard the queen next to him say: "Don't look back, keep walking, otherwise, it will be easy for him to see through our plan. In that case, all previous efforts will be wasted.”
Li Zhi was obedient, so he stepped forward and asked in a daze: "When did you reach an agreement with him?"
"Just above the court." Wu Mei ignored the shouts behind her and continued walking forward.
"Is it those dazzling gestures?" Li Zhi murmured as he recalled Li Hong's strange behavior in the court hall.
"good."
"What does that mean?"
"It's not interesting. Pei Yan has always been your Majesty's trusted minister when he was in charge of the country, and now he has left Dali Temple without even knowing him. Shouldn't I ask him for some favors and comfort me?" Wu Mei smiled like a flower and said lightly.
Her expression was indescribably relaxed and elegant, her graceful demeanor, her pretty fair cheeks, her bright and beautiful phoenix eyes, not even a single wrinkle visible at the corners of her eyes. She looked as gorgeous and beautiful as a woman in her thirties. It was so beautiful that Li Zhi looked at the queen under the sun, and couldn't help but feel swaying and trance-like.
"Comfort?" Li Zhi was even more curious. How could this comfort him
Just now in the court, you didn't say a word when Pei Yan was punished. Why are you saying it now? Since you relied heavily on Pei Yan, you should have spoken out to help him at that time.
Wu Mei looked at Li Zhi's unresponsive expression and sighed softly and said: "Pei Yan brought the blame on himself. If I were in the court to exonerate Pei Yan and protect him, wouldn't I be ignoring Hong'er's criticism and false accusations? , Doesn’t it make him lose face as the prince? In that case, how can Li Hong have any prestige in the court? "
"In this case, how can you offer comfort?" Li Zhi was even more confused. Since Queen, you know that the overall situation is the most important thing, then why do you ask for benefits and comfort? Besides, what can he comfort you with
"But Pei Yan is the person I rely on and value. He, Li Hong, didn't even discuss with me in private. He started to make plans for Pei Yan early. Where did he put my face? Although the design was perfect, it made people think it was perfect. It was Pei Yan's fault, but how could there be a money transaction between Fang Xianzhong of the Ministry of Industry and Pei Yan? Even if Fang Xianzhong wanted to bribe others with money, he should have bribed Li Xian and the Ministry of Personnel. Bribing Pei Yan was considered What's going on? This was obviously planned by Li Hong to force Fang Xianzhong to testify and frame Pei Yan..."
"I don't think so. There are all the witnesses and material evidence in the court today. How could it be a false accusation? The housekeeper looked so loyal, but he planned to plead guilty early in the morning, and he embezzled five million taels from Li Hong early in the morning. Feeling dissatisfied..."
"What does this mean? Who is Li Hong? He wants to frame Pei Yan, but he doesn't want other courtiers to see it, so as not to affect the prestige of his crown prince, so he has to be thoughtful and flawless. Others don't. You can see it, do you think I can't see it too! Humph, look how I kill him this time, by the way, you and I raise the price together, you must let him have a longer memory!" Wu Mei looked at it! Looking at the man who was being slaughtered who ran over quickly, he sharpened his knife and said.
(End of chapter)